Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty never dreamt that seeking rival MPPs to join him in his precarious minority government, in order to give him the majority he so eagerly sought, would be like sliding off the proverbial roof of a cattle barn into the biggest -gosh-darn load of fresh manure Prince Edward County had ever seen. No matter what Dalton says or what [...]
When The Hunger Games opened in theatres this past March it was a sensation, earning over US$150 million in its first weekend and becoming the third highest-grossing opening weekend of all time. Dealers in hindsight told us we shouldn’t have been surprised – 17.5 million copies of the Suzanne Collins’ original young readers sci-fi novel had been sold in the U.S. by [...]
What accounts for the frenzied reaction by advocates of legalized abortion to the private member’s motion introduced by Conservative MP Stephen Woodworth. If passed, M-312 would mandate a committee of the House of Commons to determine if the preponderance of medical evidence is consistent with the declaration in Subsection 223(1) of the Criminal Code that, for the purposes of the law, [...]
“Class come to attention now! Let’s get down to business. Phillip, do you think Ontario Premier McGuinty is an elected despot?” “Sir, I don’t think McGuinty’s important enough to be considered a despot. You have to be more of a worldwide figure to fit in that category.” “I agree with Phillip,” said Anna, “it’s a bit of a stretch” “Sir, I think [...]
Oh, I knew that we had a lot to answer for. But until he enlightened me, I didn’t grasp how much. “Look at our aboriginals,” he said. I looked at them. “We took their lands,” he continued, “and tried to replace their culture with ours. Thanks to our policies, they’re poor today and likely to be poor tomorrow.” “What [...]
The premise of the documentary The Other F Word is that there’s something outlandish, even implausible, in the spectacle of a man who’s made his living and his name as a punk rock musician taking on the role of a father. It’s an idea made visible by the image on the film’s poster and DVD packaging, of Lars Frederiksen from the punk [...]
What is the proper role of a judge in a constitutional democracy? Prior to the 1970s, there was no dispute over this issue within the legal professions of Canada and the United States: Almost all lawyers, law professors and judges agreed that, in essence, a judge should interpret and apply established legal principles, while respecting the exclusive authority of elected [...]
I’ve argued many times that the pro-life position is not essentially Christian, but an argument based on indisputable scientific truths and universal logic. The reason Christians are so enraged by the slaughter of the innocents, and so active in the campaign to end it, is that Christianity is God-given, that God created us, and thus as Christians we are especially and particularly [...]
Over the past 30 years, freedom of religion in Canada has come under increasing attack by unprincipled judicial activists and authoritarian politicians. Now the Supreme Court of Canada and the Legislature of Quebec have taken this proclivity to a new extreme, by arbitrarily decreeing that Christian parents no longer have an inalienable right to shelter their children from anti-Christian propaganda [...]
White guilt is a terrible thing to waste. Something that became profoundly clear during the trial of Mohammad Shafia, his wife Tooba Yahya, and their son Hamed earlier this year. Although the case was shocking, it was in fact only the most recent of a dozen murders in the last 12 years, most involving Muslim patriarchs killing young girls who [...]
I couldn’t imagine what Pierre Trudeau was thinking when he declared that the state has no place in the bedrooms of the nation. Oh, the declaration impressed me all right, but not the sense of it, only the sound. The sense puzzled me. I wondered why Mr. Trudeau singled out the bedrooms of the nation. Didn’t he know that the [...]
If I had just arrived from a far-away planet it would be easy to convince me that the people on planet Earth are just crazy about babies. Yes, born and pre-born babies. It has been a big media story about Kate and Prince William expecting their first heir to the throne and not just among royal watchers; the whole world wants to [...]
As a purely anecdotal aside, I’d like to mention that few of the people I know who’ve walked the Camino de Santiago, the ancient pilgrim trail that provides the setting for Emilio Estevez’ film The Way, were actually Catholic, or even appreciably Christian. The Camino has become, in an age of widened horizons but jaded palettes, a kind of extreme tourism destination, [...]
Heather Mallick, a Toronto Star columnist and admitted atheist, dealt with a pro-life issue recently and pleaded with readers: “Quick now, when does life begin?” I hope I can help you, Heather. I’m looking at a black and white picture of a 7-month-old baby boy who was aborted in Houston, Texas, on Dec. 8, 1990. He was 16 inches long with a [...]
When polled, Canadians ranked judges among the most trusted professionals and lawyers among the least. “Don’t Canadians know that judges are lawyers?” Dingwall asked, when I showed him the rankings. “Maybe Canadians think that getting appointed to the judiciary makes lawyers more trustworthy,” I suggested. “But politicians appoint them,” Dingwall said, “and the poll shows that Canadians trust politicians even less [...]